Statement
Started during my artist-in-residence in upstate New York in July 2019, these series build on my experiments of layering cyanotype techniques with overprinting and inks to reveal a deeper meaning. Working intuitively, I add acrylic paints and brush marks to achieve a rich tapestry that hovers between figurative form and fluid abstract shapes. Thus, the photographs transform into complex organic life forms not unlike the ever-shifting appearance of the Blue Morpho butterfly that inspired the name of this body of work.

An exploration of form, line and color, these meditations in cyanotype and acrylic are foremost about a melding of deliberate photography and expressive painterly gestures. During the pandemic-enforced solitude of 2020, however, the intent of the series morphed as well, to focus increasingly on my environmental and societal concerns, while maintaining the style and technique of the series. Contemplating each fresh cyanotype, a shape might remind me of a specific problem; I would then interact with the piece as if to write an essay with paint and pen.

Bio
I’m a photographer with a background in science and a love for conceptual work.

Environmental and social issues became a focus of my photographic practice during an artist-in-residence at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia, NY. My series ‘Gaia,’ which takes on environmental destruction, was completed later that same year and was exhibited in ReachArts Gallery, Swampscott, MA.

During the summer of 2020, I continued to investigate how to personally engage with important social issues. My photos of local decisive events surrounding political and pandemic flashpoints led to a window installation (‘Facts of Life’, GALA – Galleries at Lynn Arts – in downtown Lynn, MA). Between December 2020 and March 2021, I worked on and was solely responsible for a process art installation called ‘Metamorphosis XX’ (also at GALA). This full-room immersive installation focused on harnessing and celebrating mental resilience and strength in the face of the pandemic.

I have previously had solo exhibits in 2017 at ReachArts Gallery, Swampscott, MA (2017), and at Marblehead Arts Association in Marblehead, MA (2019). My work has been featured in The Daily Item newspaper (Lynn, MA), Marblehead Wicked Local newspaper, 01907 The Magazine (Swampscott lifestyle magazine), Photofan (French photography magazine) and several other publications. I am currently a board member of the local non-profit Galleries at Lynn Arts and I am in my second year of leading a group on Creative Photography for the Greater Lynn Photographic Association. – ST

View Stefanie’s website.